Real London: the barmaid

Kyli Viljoen, 23, from South Africa, has worked in the restaurant and bar business for eight years. She’s currently serving the punters in Jamies on Soho's Charlotte Street. Here she tells us why London's off licences are brilliant and her top advice for a hangover cure.

Where do you live and why?

Cricklewood, my friends lived there when I first moved here so I moved in with them. It's a quiet area and we've got a nice big house.

What advice would you give to a tourist?

Visit the West End and Soho — there's so many places to go and you can just move from one bar to the next. I love the off licences here too — at home they close at 6pm, but here you can go to the bottle shop til late.

What would you do if you were mayor for a day?

I'd definitely make the opening hours longer. In South Africa they don't close at a specific time, they just wait for the last person to leave.

What's your top tipple?

To drink: Beer. A nice cold pint of Kronenbourg
To make: I love making cocktails - we make quite a lot here on a Saturday night, it's lots of fun.

Where did you last go on holiday?

Turkey. It was awesome, I went with my friends. That's another good thing I love about London, it's so cheap to travel anywhere from here.

That was the last CD you bought?

Counting Crows and Linkin Park, I like Indie music, but then I love listening to everything.

What's your life philosophy?

Do as much as you can, see everything that you can. Take all the opportunities that come your way.

Do you have (another) favourite pub?(Apart from the one you work in, obviously)

I like Revolution in Soho, but there's a couple of underground cocktail bars that are really cool too - the Detroit in Covent Garden and Freud in Shaftesbury Avenue is really good, because you get huge glasses of cocktails and they're really cheap.

What other jobs have you had?

I was a restaurant manager in South Africa, because I started in the business at 15. It's not as difficult to get into higher positions over there because there's less competition.

Best hangover cure

Take two Paracetemols with a pint of water before you go to bed. It's a prevention rather than a cure, but it works bigtime!